A Secret Admirer
by impossibledaisy
Summary: Evan loves Zoe, but they're a million worlds apart. So, with Valentine's Day fast approaching, Evan decides to write her an anonymous love letter. But what he doesn't see coming is her falling for him, even though she doesn't know who her secret admirer is.
1. Chapter 1

Evan slumped up his shoulders against the locker trying desperately to hide the fact that he was madly in love. Clutching a book to his chest, he felt like some lovestruck teenage girl in some trashy romantic comedy, but he couldn't help himself. Not with the pink and red paper heart decorations hanging from the ceiling. Not with the subtle jazz music playing. Which he couldn't tell if it was from his imagination, or if it was the jazz band warming up in a nearby classroom. And certainly not with Zoe Murphy, looking beautiful as ever, who just smiled at him. At him. Not at someone behind him but it looked like she was smiling at him, but no it was just one of her friends who was right behind him and so he smiled back but then tried to hide that he smiled back by looking down at his phone so he didn't look weird or stupid or lonely and definitely not already so in love with her. No, that wasn't from an actual experience.

But she actually did smile at him. He wasn't imagining it like he had so many times before. Okay, that sounds creepy and kind of stalker-ish. He'd wished she'd smile at him. He'd wished she'd notice him. He'd wished she'd actually find him interesting and cool and think that he was someone she'd really want to hang out with and become friends with and then slowly grow to love him as much as he loved her. Because let's face it, he was lonely. He was lonely, and sad, and felt worthless. But the thought of her loving him. Just the slightest glimpse of someone actually giving a damn about him gave him a tiny flicker of hope. All of his hope was pinned on her. And that tiny smile ignited the flame.

It wasn't anything romantic or even special, and Evan knew. Well, it probably wasn't special to Zoe, but for Evan, it meant everything. The moment kept replaying in his head, over and over. A beam of sunlight reaching through one of the skylights that hit her face just right so her eyes glowed and he could see every freckle on her nose in perfect clarity. A smile forming as she looked over her shoulder to laugh at some joke one of her friends made. She pushed a lock of her dirty blonde hair behind her ear as she pulled the strap of her guitar case further over her shoulder. Clutching the handle of her backpack, she swung her arm back and forth as she walked down the hall.

A shared gaze. Evan met her eye contact, his face turning a bright red. He thought she was going to frown at him for staring at her, or laugh at him, or any of the infinite numbers of bad possible situations that ran through his head. But no, she did the simplest thing in the world. She smiled. She gave him one of her perfect smiles and he almost melted right then and there. After a moment of being dumbstruck, he smiled back. And there they were, smiling at each other. Until she broke their eye contact as she walked into the classroom where the jazz band practiced. And that was it. A few moments exchange that she had probably already forgotten, but Evan still was reminiscing in.

"What's the problem, Hansen, lovestruck?" Jared chuckled as he crossed his arms and walked behind Evan. Evan raised his eyebrows and turned slowly towards Jared. "Well shit. Did you finally tell Zoe Murphy about your mildly stalker-ish crush on her?" Evan blushed a bright red and shushed Jared.

"Not so loud!" Evan frantically looked at the people who passed them. "And one, I'm not a stalker, I'm just too afraid to talk to her, and two, no I didn't tell her."

"Well then what is it?" Jared raised his hands up.

"You're gonna laugh at me," Evan said, looking down at his feet.

"No, I won't."

"Yes you will, I know you."

"I promise I won't, just tell me!"

"She- smiled at me," Evan said softly, smiling to himself a little. "And I smiled back, and we just kind of met eye contact and smiled at each other. I know it probably sounds stupid, but it was really cool because she like, actually acknowledged my presence and like, in a good way too, not like she made fun of me or anything, she like, actually smiled at me. Sorry, I'm rambling. Sorry." Jared smirked a little at him.

"Ah, young love, how sweet. How pure. So what's your next step in your plan to woo Zoe Murphy? Say hi to her?" Evan raised an eyebrow at Jared.

"N- next step?"

"Yes! You gotta keep up the momentum, so maybe you can hold her hand by Valentine's Day." Evan rolled his eyes. He knew Jared was mocking him, but that actually sounded nice.

"How do you expect me to do that?" Evan chuckled. _Like I'd actually be able to talk to her. I'd get ready to, then chicken out at the last moment like every damn time I've tried before._ Jared threw an arm around his shoulder, using his free hand to gesture off into the distance.

"You see, you just gotta follow the 'Jared Kleinman Path to Romance.' It's foolproof!" Evan bit his lip to stop from laughing. He knew Jared meant well, or at least he thought he did, but he'd never seen Jared be in a relationship that lasted for more than a week. _You've never been in a relationship, flat, dummy. _He told himself. _He probably knows at least a bit more than you. _"First things first, you gotta tell her how you feel. Be upfront about it, you gotta let her know that you're confident and ready for love!" Jared moved his hands to his hips and turned to look at Evan. Evan smiled a little. "That might take some work." Evan frowned. "But from then you can go ahead and like get to kissing and stuff."

"That seems a little bit forward," Evan said.

"Nah, it's the 'Jared Kleinman Path to Romance.' Trust in the process." The subtle noise of the warning bell rang over the voices of all the teenagers in the hall. "Well, have fun with your blossoming romance. I guess I'll see you in AP Gov." Jared shot finger-guns at him, to which Evan mimicked shyly. Jared spun on the ball of his foot and turned the other way.

_He's crazy,_ Evan thought. _There's no way I could tell Zoe how I feel. She'd reject me. We've never really had like an actual conversation. She probably doesn't even know my name. _Evan sighed as he began to walk to his next class. He entered the open door of his AP English classroom and made his way to his seat in the very back row. He set down his backpack on the floor next to him.

As the door opened again, all the heads in the classroom turned. It was just the ASB representative who came to give announcements. The girl (Evan was fairly sure her name was Alyssa) walked up to the front and looked down at her page of notes.

"Hey guys, so just a few announcements, there's a meeting for baseball tomorrow night at 7 if you're interested, and we have another college planning night on Thursday if you missed the last one." Evan started zoning out. The announcements were always the same. Sports. College. Spirit Days. Things Evan either didn't want to attend or wanted to attend but couldn't. "And starting next week we've got all of the Valentine's Day festivities. If you've got a secret crush, now's the time to tell them!" The rest of the class chuckled, but Evan blushed, dipping his head down to hide his face. "And wrapping that up we've got the Valentine's Day Dance on the day itself, the Friday after next."

Evan looked at his hands. He was never really one for dances. Too many people crowded in one area. Plus he usually had to go with Jared (i.e. Jared's mom and his mom made them go together), and he usually stuck around for a bit but ended up abandoning him at some point in the night. He always hoped he could ask Zoe to dance with him at one of them, but for obvious reasons that never happened. He was really close at last year's homecoming, but due to an oncoming anxiety attack, he never did. He instead spent most of his night in the bathroom crying and trying his best to calm down.

But then he had an idea. What if there was a way to tell Zoe how he felt without actually telling her himself. _Like a sort of secret admirer._ He thought. Pulling out his notebook, he flicked through a few of the pages. Some notes, some doodles, a couple failed letters to himself. _Hey, there's an idea. Write her a love letter. You've always been pretty good at writing._ Finally, he got to a blank page. Evan smiled. Glancing once more up at the ASB girl, he grabbed a pencil from his backpack and started to write.

_**Dear Zoe Murphy, **_He began at the top of the page. _**You probably don't know me, we've never really had a real conversation, so please don't take this in a weird way, because I mean it in the best way possible. I like you. A lot. I think I might even love you. But we're a million worlds apart, and I don't know how to reach you. I'm too afraid to say this to your face. I'm too afraid to let you know who I am. But I want you to know that I think you're amazing. You bring a glimmer of hope into my otherwise hopeless life. You can ignore this letter. You can rip it up and forget about it, I won't care. But if you do read it, know you are loved. And maybe one day I can overcome my fears and talk to you. But for now, I'll stay anonymous. Sincerely, Me. **_

"Evan?" At the mention of his name, he quickly lifted his head up from the paper and blushed a bright red. His teacher held the attendance sheet on a clipboard and was scanning the room.

"Oh, uh here," He said as quietly as he could, but just loud enough so his teacher could hear him and he wouldn't have to repeat himself. He'd mastered this volume after far too many near anxiety attacks during attendance. Once the teacher moved on to the student after him, he took a look down at the paper. _Can I do this, can I actually go through with this?_ He thought. _My name isn't actually on it. And this could be your first step towards actually talking to her. _He began to rip the page out of the notebook. Examining it one last time before folding it up, he wrote Zoe's name on the front and slid the paper into his pocket.

* * *

Glancing from side to side one last time, he pulled the paper out of his pocket. His hands quivered as he slid it between the openings of Zoe's locker. He took a deep breath as he stepped back. It was obvious enough that she'd notice it, but not too obvious that someone else would take it. He ran a hand through his hair and walked back to his class. He handed the bathroom pass back to his teacher and returned to his seat. The rest of his class flew by quickly, and before he knew it, the bell rang. As he headed to his AP Gov class, he made sure to go the long way around (aka the path where he'd low-key pass by Zoe Murphy's locker) so he could see if she took the note.

He kept his head down as he walked by, only tilting it up slightly so he could glance at her locker. He stopped in his tracks when he saw Zoe holding the opened note in her hands. _Oh shit._ He quickly pulled out his phone and pretended to look at a text. Evan continuously switched his gaze from his phone to Zoe, surprised to see that she wasn't looking at his letter in disgust. She was smiling. And was she blushing or was it just the lighting? Twice in one day, she was smiling because of him. Except she didn't know it was him the second time. _Maybe this isn't insane,_ he thought. _Maybe this could actually work. Maybe for once in my life, I've done something right._

Realizing he'd been staring too long, he returned his phone to his pocket. He took one last glance at Zoe, at her smile, before continuing down the hall.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hey all! Thank you to everyone who reviewed this story! I really appreciate it. I'm so sorry this took so long, things have been crazy ****and it sucks that we don't talk that much****. But this chapter is extra long, so hopefully that makes up for it. This one is still just kind of setting up the premise, but I promise I have BIG plans in store for this fic, so stay tuned.**

Zoe gripped the paper tighter in her hands. She continued reading the words on the page, over and over, still not sure if they were real. Well, obviously they were real, they were written right in front of her, but she seriously doubted that this person was real. It had to be one of her friends pranking her, right? There's no way someone would actually feel this way about her.

At least, that's what she'd learned. She used to believe that someone could truly care about her. She used to believe that someone could actually like her for who she was. She used to believe that her parents cared about her well-being or any of her successes. She used to believe her brother loved her. But she was proven wrong.

Her entire life seemed like she was always an afterthought. Oh, you want to make an ex jealous? Trick Zoe into falling in love with you. Zoe got an A on her math test? Well too bad, Connor didn't come home high as a kite tonight, so time to celebrate that. Connor always had to come first. Because God forbid all of her dad's colleagues and all her mom's yoga class or book club friends knew that Connor was as much of an asshole as he was. Little did they know that their "perfect" daughter was a trainwreck too. She was just better at hiding it.

So how could someone really love her? What was there to love? She was just a broken girl who for some reason was incapable of being loved. But as much as she kept dismissing the thought, the tiny voice in her head kept saying, _what if? _

What if it wasn't just a prank? What if someone actually did feel that way about her? Was there really someone there at school who loved her? Someone who thought she lit up their life? Someone who was too afraid to talk to her? Someone who maybe felt just as lonely as she was?

She looked at the handwriting on the page. The letters were blocky, not too different from her brother's. The words towards one side of the page were smudged, but still legible. She wondered what kind of person was behind this writing. Was it someone she knew? What if it was Jake from band? Or the kid in her history class who lent her a pen earlier. Was it someone in her grade? Oh God, she hoped it wasn't a freshman. That would be awkward. Was it a boy or a girl? She was pretty sure she was straight, but she'd always said it would depend on the person. Was the person even nice? They sure seemed like it, but that was just a few words on the paper. What if this was just a ploy like every other relationship she'd had.

No. It couldn't be. Everyone who'd tried that had been up front. They'd gone up to her face and tricked her with wit and looks and false kindnesses. Something about this note felt different. She couldn't put her finger on it, but it felt real. It felt genuine. Clearly, the person who wrote it really cared, they were just too scared to say their feelings in person. She found this understandable, but also a completely foreign concept to her. Someone was too scared to talk to her? Was intimidated by her? Saw her as important? She couldn't understand that. She'd never seen herself as anything more but the supposedly normal second Murphy kid. You know, the one who wasn't a drug addict and a complete asshole. Nothing important.

But this person who wrote the note did see her as something more. They saw her as amazing. Some glimmer of hope in their life. That was something new for Zoe, and she kind of liked it.

"Hey, Zoe! Whatcha reading there?" Zoe turned a bright red and immediately flicked her head up. She pulled the paper closer to her chest. In front of her was Alana Beck, a senior from her Art class. Zoe gaped her mouth open, searching for an excuse.

"Oh, uh, nothing. Just a thing for one of my classes," she replied with as much of a smile as she could muster, trying her best to hide the lie. Alana gave her a look that seemed like she believed her and could see through her soul at the exact same time. Zoe felt a little unnerved.

"Hmm, cool," Alana said, her voice sounding unamused. Her expression quickly changed to an ear to ear grin. "I wanted to talk about our project for Art. I have lots of ideas!" Zoe nodded as she started zoning out while she glanced at the people who passed by in the hall. Alana's voice became just a murmur as each person walking by came into view. Zoe found herself asking, _Is it you? Is it you? _

"Wonderful! I will see you in class tomorrow!" Alana turned and walked away as Zoe came back to reality. _Hope that wasn't important._ At that, the warning bell rang. _Shit._ Zoe folded the paper back up and stuck it in her back pocket.

* * *

She let out a sigh of relief as the bell dismissed her from AP Biology, her final class of the day. She leaned down and grabbed her backpack off the floor, slinging it over one of her shoulders as she stood up and left the classroom. Running a hand through her hair, she bent one arm back to reach for the pocket that held her car keys. She winced as she struggled to reach. She couldn't feel anything in the pocket. _Ugh, I'll get it in a second._ She relaxed her arm as she walked out the front doors of the school and towards the student parking lot. She swung the backpack off her shoulder, then examined the pockets. The keys weren't where they usually were. That's odd, I must have put them in a different pocket. She knelt down to the ground as she unzipped the front pocket. No keys. _I must be missing something. Am I just stupid, or did I actually lose them? _She bit her lip as she searched her entire backpack, but to no avail. _Did I leave them in the car? _She grabbed the top handle of her backpack, then walked over to where she parked. Or at least where she thought she parked.

Her car wasn't there. She did a double-take to make sure she wasn't in the wrong spot, but no, that was where she had parked that morning. Right beneath the third tree. Where she always parked. But unlike that morning, the car wasn't there. She put her hand on her forehead, trying to remember everything that happened during the day. She got to school, talked to some of the band kids. None of them stole her car keys. She went to Art. No stolen keys there. She passed by that Evan kid before Band, and they just smiled at each other. And why would he steal her keys? They'd never really talked and he seemed too nice. Then she went to lunch and- of course.

Connor. Of course it was Connor. He came to her table asking for gum or whatever. She'd tried to shoo him off, but then he started looking through one of her pockets. She had yanked back her backpack, thinking he didn't grab anything, but of course he did. He probably didn't even stay for his last classes. Just went and stole her car, off to get drugs or whatever the hell he does every time he takes the car.

Clenching her teeth, she pulled her phone out of the back pocket of her jeans. She quickly tapped on Connor's contact and called him. She raised the phone to her ear, one hand on her hip, her foot tapping impatiently. She watched as other students got into their cars and left the lot. But her phone kept on ringing. Then, she heard the recording of her brother's voice. "You've just called the phone of Connor Murphy. Don't call me back. Don't leave a message after the beep." Zoe rolled her eyes and waited for the beep anyway.

"Connor, what the actual hell? You better get your ass and my car back to school right now, I swear to God!" Zoe hissed into the microphone before hanging up. She lowered her phone again, this time calling her mom. The phone rang for quite a bit. _Goddamnit Mom, answer the phone._

The phone stopped ringing as her mom picked up the phone. "Zoe, I'm in book club right now, this better be important. And shouldn't you be home by now?" she said, a hint of annoyance in her voice.

"Connor stole my car!" Zoe yelled into the phone.

"He has his license, honey, he's allowed to drive too." Zoe groaned.

"Not when he takes my keys without me knowing and leaves me here with no way home! Can you please come and get me?"

"Zoe, I have guests over! I cannot just leave the house to come pick you up!" Zoe furrowed her brow, moving her hand to her hip.

"Oh, so your book club guests are more important than your daughter? Mom, what the fu-"

"Watch your language, Zoe Rose! And I'm sorry, but I simply cannot come get you! Now I have to go, we're about to start our discussion." A beep alerted her that the call ended. Zoe grunted as she looked down at the screen of her phone. _Wow, mother of the year._ She sighed. She looked down at the contact of her dad. _He's not gonna like me calling him while he's at work, but he's my last chance._ She tapped the call button, then raised her phone to her ear once again. It rang for a second, before automatically hanging up. Zoe looked down at the screen. An automated text came from her dad. "In a meeting until 5, please do not contact further unless it's an emergency."

Zoe covered her face with her hands. _Well, this is just wonderful._ She peeked out from her fingers, trying to see if anyone she knew was still in the parking lot. _I guess I'm walking all the way home… _Then someone caught her eye. A familiar striped shirt, white cast covering most of the left arm. It was Evan, the guy she smiled at earlier. She wasn't really sure why she'd smiled at him. It was a kind of involuntary response. But the way he'd smiled back had kind of stuck with her, for reasons she couldn't name.

Zoe shook her head. She couldn't just go up to this guy and ask for a ride to her house, right? I mean she'd never actually had a full conversation with him, and he probably lived on the opposite part of town. But as she saw one of the last cars leave the parking lot, she realized it was either ask Evan or walk all the way back. So she chose the former.

Zoe threw her backpack back over her shoulder then walked towards the boy. She ran a hand through her hair as she cleared her throat, doing her best not to startle him.

"Hey, uh-" Evan turned around, the shock visible on his face. "I know we haven't really talked before, and I'm really sorry to ask, but could you do me a huge favor?" His mouth gaped open, eyes blinking frantically.

"I- uh- I mean, s- sure," He stuttered, tapping his fingers on the side of his leg. Zoe bit her lip and chuckled a bit.

"It's uh, it's kind of a long story, but my brother stole my car, and I don't have a way to get home. I hate to be a burden, and if it's too far out of the way, I totally understand-"

"No no no no no! It's- it's totally fine. I can totally give you a ride. Wh- where do you live?" Evan interrupted, his cheeks flushed red, a smile forming on the corners of his mouth. Zoe sighed from relief.

"I can't thank you enough. I uh- I live about 15 minutes away, on Park Drive. Do you live far from there?"

"No, I'm- I'm not that far."

"Awesome. Thank you so much." Zoe grinned. "I'm Zoe by the way, I don't think we've been formally introduced."

"Oh, I know," Evan muttered. Zoe raised an eyebrow.

"You know?"

"No! Sorry!" Evan hit his forehead with the palm of his hand. "I've just seen you play guitar in the jazz band! You're- you're really good. Sorry," Evan ducked his head down.

"Oh, thanks, but you don't have to apologize," Zoe said with a chuckle.

"Sor-" Evan started before shutting his mouth and turning an even brighter red. Zoe laughed. Evan laughed with her.

"You're Evan, right? That wasn't just a name I made up?" Evan chuckled.

"Evan! Yeah. Evan. That's my name." Evan cringed. "Sorry, I'm making this much more awkward than it needs to be." Zoe smiled.

"You're fine," She said as she shot finger guns at him. He chuckled. "Shall we head off then?" Evan blinked, shaking his head a bit.

"Oh! Yes, sorry. Here." He opened the passenger side door to his car. Zoe sat down in the seat and set her backpack on the floor in front of her.

"Why thank you," Zoe said, smirking as she put on her seatbelt. He shut the door, then walked to the opposite side. He closed the door behind him as he sat down and inserted the key. After putting on his seatbelt as well, he adjusted his rear view mirror a bit before backing out of the parking space.

"You uh, you can change the radio to whatever you want. My music taste isn't everyone's cup of tea, so." Zoe shrugged.

"I like most music, as long as it's not rap. Can't stand it."

"Me- me too!" Evan exclaimed.

"I mean, it's just people talking to a beat. No talent required there."

"That's what I always say," Evan said with a grin as he carefully drove out of the parking lot. Zoe looked down at her hands as Evan started driving. She peeked at him out of the corner of her eye. He seemed stiff, and she saw his hands shaking as he gripped the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles were turning white.

"You uh- you know where you're going?" Zoe asked.

"Yeah, my- my mom works right around where you live."

"Oh, what does she do?"

"She uh- she's a nurse's aide, but she's studying law stuff in school," Evan replied, looking over at Zoe before turning his eyes back towards the road.

"Cool. My dad's a lawyer," Zoe said matter-of-factly as she looked to Evan. "My mother, on the other hand, is unemployed unless you count her book club. Or her yoga class. Or her blog." Zoe frowned as she tapped her fingers on the side of the car. She turned her head to look out the window.

"Well, that's cool she's interested in all that stuff I guess." Zoe huffed. _He's so innocent._

"No, she's just rich and crazy. She doesn't really care about any of those things," Zoe said snarkily. _Or me, I suppose._ She looked down at her hands in silence for a beat. Becoming aware of how awkward she was making the situation, she glanced over at Evan again and blushed. "Sorry, I don't mean to vent about my whole life to you, it's just been a rough day."

"No no!" Evan turned his head towards her, his eyebrows raised. "I- I don't mind." Zoe shot him a thankful smirk. The two sat in silence for a bit as Evan drove onto the freeway. Zoe felt a buzz from her pocket. She squinted as she reached for her phone, pulling it out. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something fall onto the seat. In an instant, she realized it was her note.

"Oops," she whispered to herself. She picked up the folded-up piece of paper and turned it over in her hands. In the events from after school, she'd completely forgotten about it. She smiled to herself a bit, remembering all of the words written on the page. It took everything in her power not to just open it up and read it over and over again.

It was Evan's voice, which was slightly higher than usual, that reminded her that no, she can't do that now. "What- what's that?" Zoe blushed a brighter red.

"Oh, it's just- it's this note I found in my locker," Zoe said softly. "I don't know who wrote it, but it's really sweet."

"Oh." He half-smiled a bit. "That- that's nice." Zoe hummed in agreement. She looked over the small piece of paper one last time before sticking back in her pocket.

"Kind of right in time with Valentine's Day, I suppose," she added with a chuckle. "Do you think you're gonna go to the dance?"

"Oh, I uh- I don't know. School dances are not really my thing," Evan said, frowning.

"Why not?"

"Well, for one thing, I'm a god-awful dancer." The two laughed. "And they're just… kinda stressful, you know. _So many_ people in the tiny gym just like, grinding on each other while the DJ plays terrible music. Just not really my thing."

"That's fair. I agree the music is awful. But the jazz band gets to do the music at this one, so I'm pretty excited about that," Zoe said with a grin.

"Oh really? That's awesome! I might just have to go then."

"Yeah, you should, I hear the guitar player is outstandingly talented."

"Oh, I'm sure she is," Evan said. He turned his head and gave her a cheeky grin. Zoe smiled back. He shared her glance for a moment more before looking back to the road and realizing where they were. His smile dimmed a bit. "Oh, here's Park Drive. Which- which one's yours?" Zoe's smile left as well.

"Uh it's the big white one on the right," Zoe shifted in her seat. "Right up there." She pointed to one of the houses ahead of them. Evan nodded and pulled over right in front. He put the car in park then turned to look at Zoe. She sighed. "I can't thank you enough for driving me."

"It was no problem, really. Glad- glad I could help." Evan smiled at her again. Zoe grabbed her phone from her pocket.

"Well, hopefully it doesn't happen again, but can I have your number in case I need another emergency ride?" She chuckled. Evan gaped his mouth open for a moment before nodding quickly. She handed him her phone. Evan typed in his information quickly, then handed it back.

"Here," He grabbed his phone out of his pocket. He unlocked it, then handed it to Zoe. "Go ahead and put yours in." Zoe put in her name and number, then gave the phone back to Evan.

"Cool, well I'll see you around then." Zoe unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the car door.

"Yeah! See you later… alligator," Evan said, cringing. Zoe laughed.

She threw her backpack over her shoulder as she stepped out. After closing the car door, she stepped back and waved at Evan. "In a while, crocodile." Evan waved back as Zoe turned and walked up to the front door. She turned her head back around and watched as Evan drove up the street. Zoe reached into the pocket of her backpack for her house key, then groaned. It was on the same ring as her car keys. _Might as well give it a shot. _She tried opening the front door anyway and was surprised to see it was unlocked.

She warily walked through the door and closed it behind her. "Mom? Dad? I'm home." Zoe walked into the kitchen to see her mom on the phone, clearly annoyed. Zoe gave her a sarcastic wave. Her mom sighed and put her phone on speaker and set it onto the counter. Music from being on hold rang on repeat.

"I'm on hold with the insurance company. Your father is on his way to pick up Connor." Zoe raised an eyebrow.

"From the crack house or wherever the hell he _took my car?_" Zoe asked, folding her arms. Her mom's expression saddened.

"Your brother… he- he got into an accident."

"What?!"

"It appears that he swerved it off the road and it hit a tree. But thankfully he's not hurt."

"What about my car?"

"It's totaled. That's why I'm calling the insurance agency," her mom replied, lifting up the phone from the table to emphasize. Zoe threw her hands in the air.

"What the hell? How do you expect me to get to school? I'm gonna have extra band practice next week for the dance." Zoe clenched her teeth as her mom rolled her eyes.

"_I don't know_ Zoe. We will have to get a rental car, but we won't have time to do that until Thursday, so you're going to have to find another ride. I'm sure you can manage." Zoe scoffed, shaking her head.

"That's bullshit. Bullshit," Zoe said. She turned around and walked out of the kitchen as her mom scolded her for her language. She marched up to her room, slamming the door behind her. She took her backpack off and tossed it onto her bean bag chair. She fell backwards onto her bed, covering her face with her hands. _Geez, just not a great day at all, huh? Who am I kidding, it was absolutely awful._ She lowered her hands and stared up at the glow in the dark stars on her ceiling. She sighed, then pulled her phone and the paper out of her pocket. She set her phone down next to her and unfolded the paper.

As she read the words, she felt the exact same emotions come flooding towards her as she did earlier. She found herself reading over them again and again and again. She smiled as they seemed to pop out at her. _You're amazing. You're a glimmer of hope. I think I might even love you._ She held the paper tight to her chest. "Who are you?" She whispered.

She waited in silence, reminiscing in the love-filled words on her page until the realization that she had to find some way to school for the next morning hit her. She grabbed her phone and saw a notification for a text from Evan. _**Hey, this is Evan. I had a fun time with you today**_. Zoe bit her lip. _Maybe… he said he lived close by. Hopefully he won't hate me for asking._ She impulsively hit the call button and raised the phone to her ear. It rang for a moment before she got a response. "Hello? Zoe?"

"Hey, so would you mind if I asked you another huge favor?"


End file.
